Scenes from the weekend...

My little good luck charm! The Grant-man going to town on a snack pak, who knew that this is just what I need before FNP. Yup, people...I won $11! Another night like that and I'm outta the negative.


We went to Alexandria on Saturday to enjoy the fireworks (that didn't happen). But it was fun, got to walk around Old Towne Alexandria...which I haven't done in a while. They were selling lots of neon glowy things, some of which resembled a light saber. So, guess who wanted one? And guess who stood their ground and didn't give in to the constant, persistent, maddening pleas? Tyler with his parrot buddies...




I'd post pics from the bridal shower that took place on Sunday, but it's way too raunchy for my G-rated blog! Sheesh, Meagan.... ;-)

Say hello to my new car....

You guys like it?! Somewhere underneath, there is a blue 2007 Camry with supah cool KNEE AIRBAGS. The knee airbags are not available for passengers, not available for Tyler (until he starts driving), and not available in the backseat. But, you know, I just really appreciate all of the concern! Such caring people you are. I was not able negotiate ice cream and donuts to the terms of the purchase, but with the extra money I'm saving by not buying a Lexus...I'm going to hire a cabana boy to feed me ice cream and donuts after all my service appointments. :-D

The Camry...no, the CR-V, how 'bout a Lexus...or there's the Subaru...

Okay, tomorrow's the big car sales day. It's final decision time. And, of course, now I'm starting to question whether or not I should just fork up the dough to fix the squeakiness and just cross my fingers that nothing else goes wrong with the Jimster (right...).

So, for a while the Camry was the forerunner. Knee airbags (go ahead Tuna, you know you wanna say something), side impact airbags, and fuel efficient. It's the most practical car of my list...

But then I got to thinking about all the road trips and all the times having an SUV came in handy. So, back to the SUV's I went. I refuse to pay for another gas guzzler so the mid-size SUV's will have to do. Here goes...

Highlander - Dig that it's the biggest of my options (tho, not by much) and it's not too bad price-wise. It's also ok on gas. Test drove it a couple of weeks ago, I actually don't like that it's such a smooth and quiet ride...where's the sport in that?! So, it's not really an SUV...but a UV. By the way, this and the Camry were both approved by the little one.

RAV4 - I'm liking the gas efficiency on this one. It's a bit cheaper than the CR-V, which always helps. But it is smallest of the lot.

Other considerations that didn't quite make the top 3 includes:

Forester/Outback - Forester was surprisingly small and Outback was a bit pricey and no knee airbags!

Passat - Really liked the safety features and interior. But Camry got the edge thru resale value and I hear VW's are a pain when it comes to repairs/maintenance.

Used nice cars - Don't wanna pay high interest rate and from what I've seen, the new ones aren't all that much more in price.

So, there you have it. Any suggestions, comments, or random thought is welcome...

Old Rag Epic, Part II

The trip started out okay. We got up to the summit. And yea...that was merely the approach. We downclimbed a bit from there and climbed a couple of routes. Then the epic ensued...

So, after we left the area, called the 'Summit' area, we went to get to the 'Sunset' area. This was the same place we tried to get to the last time we went to Old Rag (please refer to prior post). Well, the bushwhacking didn't get any better this time. Here I am, trying to follow the fella's and being that I believe I was the only one that was carrying both rope and gear...I think it's safe to say, I had the heaviest of loads. And we're full on bushwhacking and not only did I have the bonus of the heavy pack, but I also had the luxury of being the fly magnet. So, again I decided to head back to the main trail. But then they found the area up ahead, so I decided to stick it out. But after another 10 minutes of bushwhacking and hearing that these would be short climbs, I decided that it just wasn't worth it, so I told the guys I'd meet them at the car.

Now, I was fully aware that I didn't know the exact way back to the trail. But my directional instincts are usually not that bad. But not in this case, I got soooooo lost!! And I was fine, up until the point where I realized I couldn't hear the guys anymore and there were no hikers within earshot. Matter of fact, the only thing I heard was the buzz of the extremely annoying flies that never left my side. And I'm not talking a stroll through the woods here, I was scrambling over boulders and having fights with thorny branches. Anyhow, so back to being lost.... I've reached a section where the rock looked really familiar...so I felt hope. Only to climb over and see that there is nothing but thick crap all around me. I had busted my a$$ getting over that boulder only to find myself even more lost. And it was at this point, I went into full panic mode and starting cursing myself for not going to Sportrock instead. So, I drop my pack and scramble back up the boulder and decided to utilize my vocal chords and started yelling for the guys. 10 minutes goes by....nothing. I scramble up further, try again...finally, someone responds. Long story, semi-short...I get rescued and my rescuer's only advice to me was that if I wanted to meet people, next time use match.com. Nice. If I hadn't been so insanely grateful for being back on the path, I would've felt pretty silly. :-/ No more bushwhacking at Old Rag for me.....EVER.

The future of the NHL...

The Tyler/Parker line take to the ice...


Ty's trying to impress his tall, blonde teacher...


Parker after being, um, tripped...

"I wish I had a little bit of hotness everyday"...

Random Tyler quote there for your enjoyment... You may take a stab at what he was referring to, but please, keep it PG.

So, FNP. Do I really need to say it?

Saturday was a late Mother's Day day. We had brunch at the always-so-good Rosemary's Thyme, highly recommend it if ever mozying around in the Centreville area. Then we were off to the Kennedy Center for The Phantom of the Opera. Phantom and Christine were quite impressive. One thing though, and maybe you all can help me out on this. Does the Phantom usually wear the cape and hood completely covering his head during "Point of No Return"? Because I was really looking forward to that song but all I kept focusing on was how silly it looked that the hood was completely covering his face! I mean, c'mon...who does that?? And I get it, yes...he was in disguise. But I just don't recall that that was how it was done in the past.

And in conclusion, I never got into RTM at all the past weekend. Not even to the gym! Poor lil' bug was sick all weekend, so there was no talking him into a Great Falls trip. But this coming weekend...I've got my eye on a hike that has RTM written all over it, it's going to make me suffer and cry. Fun stuff. :-D

Fugly FNP, rocks, hike, gig, sugar daddy's, and dad's day (phew!).....

Poker was FUGLY. That is yet another Amanda word, use your imagination to decipher my code. I must say, I really deserve the last place on the Google spreadsheet award after that performance. Just give me the title now. You'd think I'd notice when the higher poker beings finally bless me with a good hand....but no, I just completely disregard the Ace that's sitting there right smack dab in front of me and fold. Maybe I need to find people that play on a two-minute delay...that is apparently the time span I need to assess what I have. I don't get it.

I spent Saturday climbing, hiking, and gigging. I was a bit busy. And I'm still sore....not so much from the climb/hike, but from the gig. So, I was a bit tired at my gig, but helping the feller's load up afterwards pretty much did me in. Not to mention that my eye's are still recouping from seeing all the 60+ men with their 20 year old play things at this gig. Ewwwwww... After that, I'm not sure if I can even joke about having a sugar daddy anymore.

And Happy Dad's Day!!! Hope you all wished you wished your dad (or mother, for those of you who haven't talked to your dad in 7 years) a happy day!!

Due props and request...

So, as many of you know I've been on an acoustic kick. Much of that I'm blaming on the Fat Kid for providing the crack, in form of music that is called, Brandi Carlile. Although my dishes are stacked to the hilt and Ty's is watching a lot more TV lately...I must give props. I don't watch enough Grey's Anatomy to have ever discovered her on my own.

Now, by request, Cowboy Junkies... Oh, and the iChat effect at the end is my own personal signature on the song. Thank you, I put that in there just for you guys.

Happy Birthday Flipper!!...

...and you almost thought I wouldn't mention your 21st birthday. Yes, the day delay was totally on purpose. ;-)

Summersville camping report...

Wow...what a weekend. We got back at 2am last night and after 3 hours of not good sleep, I must say, I'm a little tired right now.

So, we left at 10:30am on Saturday (had a bit of a delay due to my car needing a new belt...does it ever end??) and got there in time to set up the tents, have a peek at the lake, and most importantly... roast marshmellows. And no, I couldn't watch. I was quite content with my graham crackers and chocolate, thank you.


Sunday was a good workout, for us and the kids... We packed up our lunch, climbing gear, and swim stuff and headed for the lake. Took us about a half hour to get to where the climbs are only to find out that it was packed with climbers. Luckily, our official guide (or shall I say, person who owned the guide book) found a 5.8 that we thought would be do-able. And I know I haven't been at the gym as much as I used to, but it was no 5.8! I just barely managed my way up. At any rate, it was neat...we happened to run into some other 'regulars' from the gym. Small climbing world. We then finally let the kids have their way and went to the 'Pirate Cove' to play in the lake and watch all the crazy cliff jumpers.

Monday was the icing on the cake. We rented a pontoon boat and since we met up with another family there and split the cost, it worked out quite nicely. We just went down the lake and stopped at certain neat spots and got in. So much fun, it was one of those rare occurences where I couldn't tell if the adults or kids were having more fun. We managed to climb a little bit on the cliffs which was great, although my aching feet would beg to differ. And after that, we were all ready for a nap but unfortunately a 5 hour drive awaited me. But well worth it...

How do you define 'spring'?....

Well, I was going to wait until I got pics to post from the hiking trip to the Shenandoah's last weekend... but I know you all are just chomping at the bit to read my latest weekend 'goings on' so here goes! ;-)

FNP was ok, I've managed to spend the last two weeks in positive territory. But as for the all-telling Google spreadsheet... I am the big ol, flagged and flaring red colored negative leader. Before my own mother starts berating my poker skills... there is still months to go! I'm not preparing my last place acceptance speech just yet.

And onto Saturday... went hiking out in the Shenandoah's. It was a good time, it was gorgeous weather which kinda made it difficult to not hop onto some rocks, but hiking is a good thing as I'm in 'Rainier training mode' (now, I know that the governing rule is '2 times to be acronymized'...but for brevity sake, from now on it's RTM). And just outta curiousity, how would you all define the word 'spring'? In terms of a park, water...not season, hopping, etc.

And Sunday...not much to report except band practice. Once again, gorgeous out...rocks were a-callin' but so are wedding songs that need to be learned. No rocks this weekend. Sorry folks. :-(

Mommy's Day and open enrollment at Duck U...

First of all... Happy Mother's Day to all the mommy's that I didn't get a chance to wish a happy day to yesterday! :-D

Well, the weekend was good and went by way too fast. Seriously, society needs to consider adopting a 3 day weekend standard. Really...why not?? So, I managed to not do too terribly bad at SNP. Would've done a lot better had I not kept getting pocket Queen's....what an evil hand. But speaking of evil, how bad is it that the biggest hand I won was with triple 6's on the flop?? Mwah hahaaa... (my e-evil laugh)

Yesterday the boy and I went to visit with Daffy and Daisy (did I get the names right?). The kids got such a big kick out of the ducks. I must say, though, that Grant takes the 'moment of the day' award for totally faking out the ducks and having some yummy duck grub for himself. That was a classic move perfected by a 1 year old. I'm having a proud Aunt moment.

Ty's conversing with the ducks...

A nice little diddy...

So, here's a cute little song that I don't do justice...enjoy! :-)

Frats, rocks, and job update...

I give JMU credit. Those guys do not let rain foil their drunken festivities! Yea, so frat party this weekend. Like last year, crazy!! So, in generally, the gig was really fun but I've assessed that there is a certain inebriation level to which it's just not a fun crowd anymore. Example, the level at which they are all happy and bouncin' around to whatever we play...good. The level at which they want to hear "Shout" 5x in row...bad.

Climbing on Sunday...superb. The weather, that is. My climbing performance? Eh, left much to be desired (finger strength!). But it was great to just enjoy the day by the water. I don't think this place will ever get old to me...



Now, onto the new job... I don't like it. I love it. And I'd better considering I got another job offer for a lot more and I'm not going to take it (not going to do it...not going to do it...did I mention a LOT more $$?). Anyhow!! The people are great, I've got my own cubicle again (made me realize how much I hated working at an open desk...), and yummy restaurants at Reston Town Center right across the street. :-D Things are good.

Swiftkick: Behind the Music...

The McGinty's Episode:

What are the chances that a sub drummer remembers to bring all his equipment EXCEPT for the kick drum pedal...and a person who just happens to be crossing the state line to see the show manages to be able to bring one?!? I think it's safe to say that the rock gods were definitely looking out for us on Saturday night... the acoustic gods almost got their way.

Minus the pedal drama, the gig was fun!! And I got a "Kill Amanda" drawing memento, niiiice...

There is some good country...

Okay, so I do not like country. But as I'm sitting at the Birchmere last night watching in awe as this girl belts it out...I'm thinking, this girl's aight. The first few songs I heard from her, I was pretty much in denial that she was country. But she busted out some yodeling last night, which pretty much sealed the deal. But I don't care, I loved it...I actually thought it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to (yea, she's right up there with The Wiggles).


I highly recommend:

What Can I Say
Fall Apart Again

My little giant...

My favorite part of the game today was when the team was in outfield and the coach kept repeating to everyone to keep their eye on the ball...and one little kid yells back "we are keeping an eye on the ball". Ah, had to be there....

Another job move...

After much internal debating...I've decided to take a position at another company.

Overall, I'm really happy and excited about the move. It's a good chance to hone my front end skills. I'll also be doing web development at this new place. It's a marketing agency so it's exciting to go to a company that specializes in branding and design (going back to my roots!). The down side to this whole deal is leaving my current company. Giving my notice was tough. I guess since we've dwindled down to a seven person company, I feel bad leaving those guys. But, hopefully, they understand...

Well, stay tuned...first day is April 30th!

SNP and the near Old Rag epic...

How about I begin at SNP? I snatched up an extra $5. :-) I'm now 3rd to last on the Google spreadsheet. I can't really say it's a satisfying win as I basically took the money from a not-so-sober person. Not that she probably will remember any of it...

So, today me and a buddy went to Old Rag Mountain. Good times, good times... The intention was to go scout the place out for climbing and possibly climb something while doing so. Well, buddy had his eye on a certain rock wall...a certain wall that was only accessible following a "faint path". Finding a faint path in normal weather, fairly easy. Finding said path in snow, good luck. So, we're bushwhacking along in what we think may be the path and we come to a point where I've about lost hope. So, I bid my friend luck on his quest in finding his holy wall and head back to the main trail. After battling the branches and thorny bushes...I finally get back to the trail (pretty much completely snow covered and branches sticking outta my hair...I looked hot). ;-) So, anyways...all went well up to the summit (see below...quite lovely) and met up with buddy on the way back down. He never did find his wall.

My weekend pics:

He loves his Aunt Mandy...


Old Rag...




And my personal favorite:

OC recap...

Took the little guy to the beach this weekend. We're headed back tomorrow... :-( Not quite beach weather, but nonetheless, Tyler still got in the water and half froze himself! Yea, people were walking by in their sweaters amazed at this little guy frolicking in the water like it was 100 degrees out. :-O Got a little fishing in yesterday (nothin' biting) and had a little crab feast afterwards. Oh, and how could I forget...had the best doughnut EVER!! Fractured Prune...if you're ever in Ocean City, you must have a doughnut here. (Just maybe set aside 5 hours later to exercise it off...)

Good sunset today...

A bar, a club, and climbing...

Did everyone have a lovely weekend?? Mine was pretty good. Took the ol' bro-in-law out on the town Friday night. Okay, well...went across the street to a bar to see a band. Interesting crowd, I felt like I was back with Loose Change in a Dundalk bar... Good times. :-D

I spent most of Saturday spending quality time with my washer and dryer. But hey, it wasn't pretty out...so it didn't cause me much grief. Did get out for a little girls night out at Ned's, knew it was time to go when one of the girls started literally ripping her clothes off. :-O I'm only slightly kidding...

Yesterday was gorgeous so, of course, had to go climbing... More good times. We went to a little spot in Front Royal called Talking Headwall. I actually lead a route that I didn't climb beforehand....a first for me, thank you! So much fun, and afterwards ate at a Mexican restaurant...wow, after a day of climbing fueled by 2 granola bars and a cup of Starbucks...authentic Mexican really hits the spot.

Hard to see, but there are two ropes in this pic, the route I led is the one on the left...

FNP, SMC, and WV...

FNP... After my brief vacation in positive-land, I'm back on the negative side in the spreadsheet and as we all well know, "the Google spreadsheet does not lie"! I need to start being aggressive...be aggressive...B-E-aggressive (yes, that's me cheering myself on)

SMC... Check it out, here's Mya climbing...she's five. Yea, what were you doing when you were five?!? She climbs, she's cute, she flirts...Tulip, good luck!!


Anyhow, it turned out to be a gorgeous day for climbing. It was a lot of fun and now I'm really starting to get excited about climbing season. :-D But who knows, maybe they'll make a Wii game of rock climbing...then we won't have to go outside anymore! ;-P

WV... Well, band practice got cancelled so I went out to WV to practice doing some acoustic stuff. Maybe we'll get an acoustic gig or two while Swiftkick is on hiatus. Y'all ready to drive out to WV?? While we're on the music subject...I discovered Garageband, it's way cool. All you poor PC'ers are missing out!

My latests and greatests...

My latest web addiction: imeem.com. Make a playlist, it's fun!!

My latest dealing with a magazine sales rep: Okay, so if you're selling ad space in a magazine, do you really care what the ad looks like? Well, if it's offensive...yes, but not in this case. Yea, the guy I dealt with had recommendations down to the friggin font!! God forbid I use a font that isn't used in every single ad in that magazine...we wouldn't anyone to notice the ad or anything... :-P

My latest food addiction: Thin Mints...you can't just have half the box!

My latest activity of choice: Playing the guitar, and determined to do so until my fingers stop hurting or until I get good (haha...aren't I funny?).

My latest book: The White Spider. It's pretty good but I've already finished the part where they reached the summit of Eiger and I'm not halfway done. One thing about climbing books is that the author always feels they must spend 100+ on why they climb. "Because it is there" is answer enough for me.

Happy birthday Ty and Ty's aunt!!...

As many of you know, it was Tyler and Aunt Meagan's birthday yesterday. We had a lot of fun. I went to Ty's school and brought cupcakes and read a story to his class. They were all so cute, I love how they were so excited to have a 'guest' read them a book. It's always the simple things...

Here's Tyler and his friend, Kyree (whom is such a sweetheart!!)...


We celebrated everyone's birthday at a Japanese steakhouse. The boys were soooo adorable. Colin and Parker were working very diligently with their chopsticks, they did a good job!

What's new in Ladybug Land...

Not much to report on things so I thought I'd give you all an update on work. I guess I used to blog about work often because I needed to vent my frustration. Well, now that I like my work, I haven't been giving the latest scoop. (Not to say that I don't have frustrations at my current job...IE, errr!!!)

So, here goes...here are the websites that I helped develop. By the way, I know some of you still think I design, but I don't. I wish I could design like our designers...you'll see what I mean.

Cochlear Awareness Portal
The Wellness Community
The Wellness Community Blog
Pain CME Center
Sound Partnership

(By the way, we have an abundance of ladybugs in our office...)

Were Batman and Batgirl an item?...

Well, I scored big when I got him Batman Valentine Day cards. Didn't score so big when I told him he had to give one to all his classmates...in which I got, "but I don't wanna give the girls one". Fair enough, he needs to focus on his studies anyway! But he did write one to Angel...mmhmm, I'll be keeping an eye on that one... That girl is the devil!! (who can name that movie?? so simple...)

Don't you hate it when a camera gets shoved up your nose??...

So, today was my ENT appointment. After giving her really vague references as to my symptoms (how can you really explain it to someone who doesn't sing?!)...she casually mentions 'well, we're gonna numb your nose and stick a camera down your throat'. At that point in time, the first thought in my head was 'you know, I think I can live with a bit of a raspy voice...'. Anyhow, it was an odd experience. Kind of painful at first but it is, after all, a camera being stuck up your nose. In the end, no big deal...I have some irritation that can be treated by avoiding certain things. Coffee and peppermint being amongst the items on the list... So, in conclusion, raspy voice it shall be.

I also had a meeting with my good ol' folks at the NRA. Ah, going back...the memories. Yes, thank god for web development. :-) Anyways, it looks like I'll be doing some freelance work for them. The new manager of competitions (where I used to be) is a good guy, he'll do a good job...but I'm interested to see how he can revive competitions. From an advertising/design perspective, it's great because he seems to agree with the focus of the ads, whereas me and my last boss butted heads. But I still couldn't sell them on marketing over the web. No e-newletters, no promotional sites...sheesh...isn't everyone on the web these days??

Weekend recap...

I wanted to first of all let you all know that I had my first winning night at poker night this year. You all can breathe now... I know you all were concerned, as was I. But I also wanted to let you all know that there is a certain someone...a certain someone that reads this blog...a certain someone who is flaky and doesn't come to poker night when he says he's going to!!! I won't name any names (j...two..na...). :-P

And how can I mention the weekend without mentioning Prince's Super-Bowl performance?? Now, I like Prince and all and I like the Foo Fighters...but in no way does that mean you should combine the two. That's really all I have to say about that. And no, I didn't watch the game.

Welcome to 3, Colin-bear!!...

Happy birthday Colin-bear!! :-) Handsome devil...

Minus one toofel...

The tooth fairy made her first visit to Ty's this weekend. $5! He may knock out a couple more to expedite a shopping spree at Toys R Us.

Strangest dream ever...

I don't recall the details, but I remember fruit and wanting lots of it. Mostly pineapples and peaches. And I couldn't get enough, it was like I was on crack (but replace crack with fruit). What does it all mean??!! I am such a freak.

Adventures at Great Falls and, is that snow??...

It wasn't SMC...but it was just as fun. I took Ty's to Great Falls Saturday morning, and let me tell you...I've got a lil' adventurer in my hands. I took him on his first mini-hike, he loved every minute of it. It was cute, upon leaving he kept saying "mom, this was a great idea!". Oh, just wait till he starts climbing... :-)




Gig went well that night, actually...the fact that I got carded made it an exceptionally good gig. I think I need to start every gig off that way! :-D And was it supposed to snow today?! Because I heard 'snow flurries', which isn't quite what occured. This is the first time in a WHILE that I've actually gave my car an appreciation pat. While people in their beemers were sliding all over the place, I felt pretty comfy in my ghetto-nothing-functioning-but-has-4-wheel-drive car. And, of course, the boys made the most of it.

5 (fünf) things...

Alright, here goes... Five things you probably didn't know about me ("you" excludes my sisters...they know everything and, darn it, they don't forget either!!):

1. I do a mean cookie monster and cabbage patch kid impression
2. I took four years of German in high school...I bet my mom didn't even know that...
3. The author I've read most of is Dean Koontz
4. I don't throw away publications that I think are really well designed (which is starting to cause a serious clutter problem)
5. The first song I ever performed in public (this being a venue with 100+ strangers) was the Star Spangled Banner

...and I'm tagging anyone who reads this post! Ha!!! Your turn...

My cell phone dreams have come true...

Check it out. Mac-haters (you know who you are!!)...you know you want one... :-P

If I watched football...

...it'd be because of great footage like this.

The latest and greatest...

Man, I've been soooo bad about updating my blog! Bad, bad Amanda...

Where shall I begin? Oh, a very late Happy New Year's to everyone!! I had a gig which went okay. Middle of nowhere and um, interesting hotel afterwards....but lucky me, I expected worse so in conclusion, it wasn't all that bad.

So, on the 30th I went to Seneca for a nice day trip. Weather was perfect. I lead my first trad pitch ever...yay (we shall just disregard the fact that it was a short, super easy pitch...).

Partner at the climbers summit...


Nice view...


Well, my blog isn't the only thing I've been procrastinating on....guess I'd better go take down my Christmas tree now. :-/

By popular demand...

I present to you the professional performance from Grant-Man and Colin-Bear!

Gettin' down with Frosty

Ho ho ho...

Did Santa bring everyone what they wanted for Christmas?? If not, maybe you should be good this year. ;-) Climbing stuff...check. Nerd books...check. Smelly stuff...check. Music dvds...check. Oh, even chilly legos...check. :-D Now, about that winning lotto ticket, I'll have to have words with Santa bout dat.

Some highlights...

Ty's and his new G.I. Joe (could G.I. Joe take over the Power Rangers obsession?? It's a close one so far...stay tuned)



We bored Colin to sleep...



Parker having to manually smile until Santa brings him his Tigatron...

FNP, SMC, and SNL...

I've decided that if an event gets mentioned more than 3 times on my blog...it's open game to be acronymized (thanks, I made that word up all by myself).

So, while the Frosts are galavanting in the Bahamas (and still are....so jealous), I kept the FNP flame burning. Unfortunately, being the host does not improve ones luck and I certainly had none that night. It was sad...but it's all part of my master plan, just playing bad to throw them off for next time.... yea... :-P

SMC (which involves a Saturday morning and climbing) was fun...I actually didn't climb all that much. We had two ropes and one of them was on a 5.10 (I barely scrape up those in good weather!!), so needless to say....didn't spend too much time on that one.

Now, I want to mention SNL because 1) I actually got out of the gig early enough to catch it, I LOVE those gigs....and 2) because now I have a crush on Justin Timberlake. He's adorable! I'm so jealous of Cameron Diaz...and poor Brittany, had to go from him to K-Fed (is that the correct spelling these days?). Anyways, it's the first SNL in a while where I actually laughed out loud. He did a really good job....I completely forgive him of his boy band days.

For Daphne's Pop-si-doodle-darling...

Thanks for everything...

FNP, cold rocks, and band bonding...

Well, it's usually on a Friday night so I feel fairly comfortable in making Friday Night Poker, officially FNP. And it was a good FNP, hehe...for me. I managed to win one big hand (sorry Tulip!!)...then spent the rest of the night kicking myself for folding a hand I would've won with pocket A's. All your fault, Stacy... :-P

So, yea...the rock was kinda chilly on Saturday. But cold rock is better than no rock. :-) And just for you guys, I took a shot of Aid Box below. This is the area we were climbing at and the location of my nemesis climb (w/ arrow). Yup, that little crack be it. (That's Tulip climbing and Jason O. belaying, btw...)



And the band soiree was really fun too. Our drummer and his lady hosted (they have the cutest little apartment!). I had my first taste of honey wine...which, um, I'll have to get used to... We watched Spinal Tap and played Taboo. We got creamed....thus ending my world domination in Taboo!! Just so I know I haven't lost it, please fill in the blank...

Pepe Le Pew is a ______
The band that does Linger and Zombie are ______

Yummy turkey...

Everyone have a good Turkey Day?? Hope you all stuffed yourselves half as silly as I did. And I hope that you all remembered to bring home your leftovers....unlike me. :-(

Grant-man meets Pookie, everyone say awwww...

Bloggers block...

Thank goodness I don't get paid for this. Doesn't help that my camera phone won't email the pics I take, thank you Cingular.

Ok, to the next topic...

Sniff, sniff...$250...

He knows what I'm talking about... Happy birthday, Dad!!! :-D

Foops shloops...

Greg on Foops Jr...


Jason (O) on Foops Jr...


Me on Foops Jr...

I'll spare you all the details of my sad sad performance....hey, climbing on minimal sleep is not all that conducive for focusing! (Ohhh, now I see why they didn't climb on the rope I had set up....sure they 'had to go')

He didn't admit it, but...

...it's okay, your secret is safe in my blog. Happy birthday j2!! :-D

Jumpin' on the accessibility bandwagon...

I'm embarassed to say, I haven't been a good little web designer/developer that adheres to today's best practices. There are a few things I've shamefully disregarded in my websites. The one that I should be kicking myself on is: accessiblity. Now before you run off to another blog, this is not as techy-nerdy as you may think...

In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual's ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508 (29 U.S.C. ‘ 794d), agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.

This act came about just as I was getting into desktop publishing, so I knew about it and knew it was important to learn but just never had someone come to me that wanted their website to be 508 compliant. So, unfortunately, I never bothered. Well, since then I've done my share of reading and figure if I know how to do it, well then....why not?

Although I'm no expert with the issue and can't promise that a blind person won't be frustrated with what I give them...I can say, it'll be better than before... :-)

Chilly legos....

http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=4277645

First of all, they need to make it available in the US. Second of all, they need to make a top layer so that it can mold to function like actual legos. Hours o' fun... :-D

Randomly Vicious and lucrative gigs...

So, there's this climb at Great Falls, 5.10+...it's called Randomly Vicious. Folks, there was nothing random about it...it's just plain hard!! And yes, it's going on my 'list'. That was Saturday and I must add (for the lazy who decided to stay in that day), best climbing weather EVER. It was absolutely gorgeous out. Also came to realization that Juliet's Balcony is a really cool place to climb. I've done some routes there before but never ventured to the cliffs below which are fantastic. :-)

And so that night, I made up for my Friday-night-$15-unlucky-poker-streak...second gig in a row in Georgetown and with the generous pay we've been getting in that neck of the woods I'm ready to start throwing up some Swiftkick posters on the street corners.

New Orleans report, don't get excited...

There are some cities that were just not meant to be business trip destinations...and New Orleans takes the #1 spot in this category.

So we got there and walked around the French Quarter and Bourbon Street for about 3 hours. And thus concluded the extent of having any fun at all. We were up literally all night...no hurricanes, no hand grenades. Just work. Sheesh, I'm depressing myself just writing about it!

Anyhow, I did get a shot of a pretty building while I was there...

Fun gig, mean cops...

Apparently, Georgetown police aren't very nice. After a gig of very sporadic playing, at a volume that wouldn't wake a sleeping baby, we were politely asked to end early at last nights gig. Drama, drama.

Folks, when having a house party....always invite the neighbors.

Work, work, and more work...

So, during my NM trip I ran into a former co-worker who had quit the NRA, moved out to Denver and started his own design company (of course, the NRA being his #1 client). I felt rather envious...but more so, hopeful. I figured, if this guy could do it...so could I (not to knock the guy at all, his writing and photography would put me to utter shame). And to make matters even more tempting, my old boss requested that I become an official vendor so that he could outsource some design jobs to me. While these are all good things in terms of fulfilling my freelancing full-time fantasy, it also means putting more work on my plate in addition to my full-time job. Sheesh....I complain enough as it is....oh well. :-)

Now, in terms of my full-time job...it's been quite a frustrating week. But a good learning experience, none the less. I was building a website and thanks to our designy-designer, it was a challenge. Turns out, the client is just going to use some of my build and using tables for some elements (of course, the same elements that took a while to figure out in CSS). Why he would use tables for these things is beyond me...it's so much harder to update. Most of the time, the answer is just because they don't want to come to grips with the fact that tables are the old way of doing things. Nothing much I can do about that, but if they come back wanting it built in a table...be prepared for a long blog rant...

Admit it, you all eat cake like this at home...

Happy 1st Birthday, Grant Man!!

Pondering life's meaning over ice cream...

Tyler's thought: "I wonder where my Ben Ten watch is..." (and he's probably still wondering...). Parker's thought: "I need to teach Tyler how to have perfect posture like me...". Any other takers?

My cameo appearance in New Mexico...

Just driving to work like any other Monday morning...cell phone rings, "Amanda, can you help out in Albuquerque?" says a former co-worker. And after a few rushed last minute phone calls and a quick stop by work to get the laptop...I was off to NM. Lemme give you all a little background here. In my NRA days, I went to Police Nationals for two weeks as the awards officer. Well, after I left the NRA, two things changed in regards to the event...1) it went from Jackson, MS to Albuquerque, NM and 2) the long-time coordinator of the event resigned, oh about, 2 weeks prior to. So, basically....very few people were there that had worked the event before.

Anyhow, things were fine...but I was pretty bummed about running the awards office, as opposed to the 'helping out' (as advertised). So, maybe I'll go out there next year if they don't tie me down to a cramped awards room. One 'oops' happened with the stat office, but given the situation, I was pretty impressed how smooth things went, relatively speaking. And it was nice to see all the familiar faces from the good ol' NRA days...

We did manage to break free for a couple of hours to head up the Sandia Mountains (pic coming soon). I'll definitely be back to climb that!! And in case you all ever head out there, kinda dusty!

Got back late last night...next stop, New Orleans!! I might not share those details....hehe.... ;-D

What's wrong with Boy Scouts??...

Now, I remember the really funny SNL skit w/ Alec Baldwin...but is that really the reputation they have?? Here's the thing, I thought it'd be great to put Ty's into Boy Scouts. Lord knows I can't show him how to build a fire... However, someone is dead set against the idea. What's the deal...can anyone enlighten me as to how being a Boys Scout could be bad thing?

Did j2's dog go climbing this weekend??...

...because if not, I'd have to say that unless you find chasing one's tail more exciting than pulling a tough overhang in midair, that I win for a more exciting Saturday. Yea, I'm actually quite impressed with myself...not the tough overhang, the fact that I pried myself away from Comedy Central. Scrubs marathon... :-)

Tough crowd...

So, I get crickets chirping and learning that boring dogs have more exciting lives than I. I'd like to check out you all's heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat, can't-wait-till-the-next-post blogs. Oh...wait...you don't have one. My bad.

Nine bites and a wedding...

Nothing too much to report from the weekend. We had a wedding gig on Saturday night which went very well. Fun crowd...but vicious mosquitoes!! Nine bites total, seven of which are all on my left arm. I think I'll be wearing long sleeves in this nice warm weather we've been having, wouldn't want to scare anyone with my lumpy red arm!

Weekend synopsis...

Went to Great Falls (surprise, surprise) on Saturday. That was a much needed trip as I got to practice placing gear. I didn't actually lead anything, but I did pseudo-lead. :-) I'll explain to those of you familiar with climbing terms: we top-roped the climbs but I placed gear and pulled up a second rope to clip it as I went to basically make believe that I didn't have a rope above me. Did you all get all that?? Anyways, we didn't do anything too hard. I figured I'd save that trip for Sunday, but I couldn't drag anyone out ...lazy bums!! :-P

Saturday night was a good time. After spending the day climbing, I was on the line about going out...but I'm glad I did. We went to Clarendon and happened to see a really good 80's tribute band called The Reflex. Their singer nailed the high notes on "Take On Me" (A-Ha)...I'm still thoroughly impressed. Also ran into some guys from Dr. Fu...if you have not seen these bands, you must put it on your to-do list.

Kindergarten kid...

It's his second week now, yes I know...I'm a bit late at the update. Here are some pics.



The weather was just miserable that day and of course, with me freaking out about everything else...I couldn't find his raincoat! So, anyways all went well except for the fact that I had to call the school to tell him to get on his after school bus. He said that on his first day, he drew a picture of Colin, Parker, and Kai. I thought that was cute...maybe even cuter of he would've included mommy, but oh well.

I do feel bad for my poor bug...his day is from 8:40am to 6:30pm. :-( I really need to win the lotto... But it is nice that thus far, there have been no complaints...besides him missing Colin and Parker.

Mademoiselle, I'm not just a cartoon...

Ladies and gentleman, I kid you not...I met Pepe Le Pew today. He was trapped in a mans body, but I'm sure it was him.


Well, being the absolutely gorgeous day out that it was, I decided to eat lunch outside next to a lake and guess who strolls by and sits next to me. After a few minutes of being referred one too many times as 'mademoiselle' and invading my personal bubble, I called it an extra short lunch.

First day jitters...

I'm really not trying to freak out over Ty's first day tomorrow but it's definitely happening. He's only going into Kindergarten and I'm finding myself with the same butterflies I got going into middle school...not the good kind! It didn't actually hit me until I tucked him in tonight. Luckily, he's not picking up on my vibe...he's really excited and looking forward to it. I do have a good feeling though that he'll have a much better experience than what he had in preschool. His new teacher seems really great and I'm relatively pleased with the after-school care he'll be going to (although, he will miss his Uncle Scott!). I'll keep you all posted...

Kids-o-rama and the best cup of coffee ever...

The crew (Denise, Eric, Erica, Meagan, Scott, and kabillion kids - including myself and my dad) went to Hershey, PA for the weekend. Having the bad weather on Saturday, we hung out mostly at the hotel toying on the edge of getting kicked out with the noise/kids we brought along. We went to Hersheypark the next day which was interesting and fun. It didn't take us but a couple of minutes within arriving to lose Colin. After a quick "I thought you had him..." toss around, he was found hangin' with the popcorn vendor...should've known. The boys (not including Colin) went on their first roller-coaster ride. My poor little guy was so scared, and he absolutely hated it. But after seeing the rest of the kids so excited about it, he and Parker insisted 'it was fun'. Yea...his kung-fu grip on my arm throughout was fun, too!

Btw, don't let the name fool you...the only chocolate you'll come across at Hersheypark is double-priced candy bars from vending machines. And yes, I was expecting something a little more Willy-Wonka-esque...

So, today after hitting the zoo and Chocolate World (where it was a bit more chocolate-ish, but still no rivers of it...), we came back home. Then I had the best cup of coffee ever, which really has no story behind it...just happened to hit the spot with my killer headache. :-)